Why are we called Sustainable Communities? What’s in a name?

Let’s take the words in turn – Communities first. Our organisation consists of a network of groups – communities – in which people learn from one another and are able to support one another in making changes. As the circumstances of our lives inevitably change the groups and their members are equipped to be sustainable. The expectation of harmful environmental and social changes is the reason for forming Sustainable Communities SA.

Next – the word Sustainable which has sometimes seemed a rather static concept. However, many authors have elaborated on sustainability and applied it to programs of action in health, well-being, agriculture, ways of living, economics, and ecology as well as to development in general.

A word is a symbol, deriving its meaning from the object or action which it represents. Sustainable communities are those which are active in confronting the challenges of a threatening environment and seeking adaptations necessary for survival and well-being, thus contributing to the meaning of sustainability. As circumstances change our lives change, and we make a transition to a new sustainable state. Transition is a process; sustainability is the goal. ‘Transition’ is also the name adopted for the widespread movement Transition Towns and its methodology for social transformation.

The name Sustainable Communities South Australia expresses the focus and the nature of the actions to which we are committed.